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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23994715">Cat's In the Cradle (We'll Get Together Then)</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/FoiblePNoteworthy/pseuds/FoiblePNoteworthy'>FoiblePNoteworthy</a>, <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/SchrodingersAuthor/pseuds/SchrodingersAuthor'>SchrodingersAuthor</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Cat!Zuko Verse [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Avatar: The Last Airbender</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Based on a Tumblr Post, Cat!Zuko, Damn you tumblr, Gen, No really Zuko is cursed into a poor mostly bald kitty, based on fanart, that's the entire fic</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-05-04</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-08-10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-02 21:14:03</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>5,994</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23994715</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/FoiblePNoteworthy/pseuds/FoiblePNoteworthy, https://archiveofourown.org/users/SchrodingersAuthor/pseuds/SchrodingersAuthor</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>S1 Zuko takes a curse for the curious Avatar, and gets turned into a cat. This... changes more and less than you would think.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Cat!Zuko Verse [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1730269</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>47</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>566</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. The Original Ficlet of the Fanart</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">
      <li>For <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/FoiblePNoteworthy/gifts">FoiblePNoteworthy</a>.</li>



    </ul><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>If you don't already know, then you probably don't WANT to know. For the morbidly curious, check out MuffinLance's Tumblr. Or mine (Alexandriapaige), if you don't want days worth of AtLA fanconetent for some reason.</p><p>I don't know how to replicate the fanart-ficlet cycle on Ao3, but I'm sure gonna try my best.</p><p>I can’t get Ao3 to accept my picture, so the OG kitty Zuko can be found here for now: https://66.media.tumblr.com/73a11d5c819afb78aca5931cd984a91e/930e8061c83c7ac7-e7/s1280x1920/113c5567345968c4550e408a40b0604c54a04936.jpg</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Sokka was the meat and sarcasm guy. He did not sign up for magic water, or air, or fire, or magic Airbenders who poked their noses where they Did Not Belong and nearly got themselves turned into <em>cats</em>.</p><p>Nearly. Somehow, Aang had managed to get their enemy turned into a cat instead.</p><p>The near naked cat struggled with impressive ferocity and stamina, but Aang did something with his Airbending to keep the teeny little claws away from his skin.</p><p>This did nothing for the shrill yowling assaulting everyone’s ears.</p><p>Zuko EVENTUALLY hit the runner’s wall and went limp and silent. LONG after Appa had yip-yiped into the sky.</p><p>Sokka thanked the Moon and Tides that they had Appa. Had they been on foot, Zuko would have just OUTRAN them days ago. The guy had more single minded persistence than a rabid leopard-seal and just as much self preservation.</p><p>Sokka wasn’t sure if he loathed or admired or maybe pitied the trait. Sokka never dreamed that ANYTHING could ever make him sympathize with Zuko, but here were the Spirits to ready prove him wrong. Or just one Spirit, at least.</p><p>He doubted Zuko had signed up for angry spirits that turned people into cats, either.</p><p>Zuko-cat wasn’t a Zuko-cat so much as a Zuko-kitten. He was approximately two thirds tail hair (long, sleek, perfectly groomed hair that DID NOT make his wolf’s tail feel inadequate, thanks) to one third actual body mass. And the entire three thirds could probably fit in a man’s hands.</p><p>A fully furred Zuko-cat could perhaps floof up enough to fake some heft. (That tail hair truly was glorious.) But alas, poor Zuko-cat was hairless except for the floofiest tail to ever floof and a bit of rhom-butt hair.</p><p>How he must regret that stupid ponytail now.</p><p>What to do, what to do... Cat puns, obviously, but they now held their mortal enemy COMPLETELY at their mercy. Could he convince Aang to simply drop him off the side of the saddle and be done with it? Probably not. Could they interrogate him? Only slightly less likely. Release him into the wilds next time they landed? Aang wouldn’t be happy, but it was doable.</p><p>They SHOULD have just left him back at the abandoned shrine, but Sokka couldn’t watch Aang AND run from crazy ruin Spirits.</p><p>At least Katara had her priorities straight. Waterbending scrolls and pirates aside.</p><p>Sokka casually started sharpening his boomerang. Hopefully Zuko would get the hint that Aang almost certainly wouldn’t.</p><p>Aww, that itty bitty, ferocious, kitty-glare. Bastard screamed message RECEIVED, but even the scar of doom couldn’t make that naked kitten face un-adorable.</p><p>“So,” Sokka said, oh so casually. “What’re we doing with Prince Rhom-butt?”</p><p>Zuko hissed in his general direction, but remained limp in his prepubescently armed prison. Poor thing couldn’t even muster the energy to floof his tail back out. This is why we pace ourselves and conserve our strength instead of charging like a rampaging wilda-moose, people.</p><p>Aang pet Zuko-cat’s bald head. Zuko growled and made a quarter-hearted swipe at his fingers.</p><p>“Well,” he said.</p><p>Sokka already hated whatever else Aang was going to say.</p><p>“He only got turned into a cat because he pushed me out of the way, and the Avatar’s supposed to be the bridge to the Spirit World, so I guess we look for a way to change him back.”</p><p>Na-ugh. <em>Nope</em>. <strong>No</strong>. <span class="u">Bad plan</span>. <strong><em>Very, VERY bad plan</em></strong>.</p><p>“Aang,” Katara obviously fished for a nice way to phrase this.</p><p>“Are you outta your mind?!” Sokka said.</p><p>He was the meat and sarcasm guy. Not the nice guy.</p><p>He gestured at Zuko with Boomerang.</p><p>“We FINALLY get the guy whose been chasing you since day one where he absolutely cannot capture you, and you want to make him chasing-you-able again? Are you insane? Were you dropped on your head as an infant?”</p><p>Zuko-cat went even more still. Turned to look at Aang and gave an incredulous, chirruping “Mrow?”</p><p>Even ZUKO agreed with him. Sokka could see “How did I fail to capture THIS?” flashing behind his round kitty eyes. Sometimes Sokka wasn’t sure either, buddy.</p><p>Aang smiled, hugging Zuko-cat closer to his scrawny chest.</p><p>“No, it’s perfect: we’ll be traveling buddies and then he won’t want to capture me anymore.”</p><p>Zuko yowled in outrage. Katara and Sokka stared at Aang in absolute disbelief. Dropped over the side of the saddle it was.</p><p>----------------------------</p><p>
  <em>(Damn Aang's cat-catching airbending!)</em>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. The Earth Sage</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>FoiblePNoteworthy made fanart of the fanfic of the fanart, which prompted another ficlet.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>There were many, MANY things wrong with the entourage landing on Sage Wu’s doorstep, but the most vocal was the cat hissing in the Avatar’s arms.</p><p>Not an owlcat. Not a catopus. Not even a pygmy puma. Just a cat. An angry, two thirds bald cat.</p><p>The Avatar, the World Spirit incarnate, the long lost hope of restoring balance, leapt from the back of the sky bison in a single bound. With both hands around the cat. Then materialized in front of Wu.</p><p>One second the boy was over THERE. The next he was directly in Wu’s face. That could NOT be natural!</p><p>“Hi are you Sage Wu because we asked at the village if there were any sages around and they said yes at the top of the mountain which is a really strange place for an Earth Sage if you really think about it I’m Aang this is Zuko and they’re Appa, Katara, Sokka and Momo we need talk to you because I kind of made this Spirit mad and he was going to turn me into a cat for touching this really old statue but Zuko was there and he got turned into a cat instead so now we need to change him back I’m supposed to be the bridge to the Spirit World so that’s kind of my job but nobody told me how to yet because I’m twelve so we were hoping you could help-“</p><p>Wu held up a silencing hand.</p><p>“I’m afraid you’ll have to repeat that: more SLOWLY, young Avatar,” he said. “Now, who are your companions?”</p><p>The water tribe children had dismounted during the airbender’s whirlwind of words. The girl stepped forward and gave a respectful bow.</p><p>Good, Wu thought. Bowing wasn’t part of Water Tribe greetings- the special consideration towards Earth Kingdom culture would serve them well. Especially should she take a more permanent post as the Avatar’s much needed translator.</p><p>“Our apologies, Sifu Wu,” she said. “I’m Katara, and that’s Sokka of the Southern Water Tribes. These are Appa and Momo of the Southern Air Temple-”</p><p>“And this is Prince Zuko of the Fire Nation,” the Avatar said, shoving the hissing feline into Wu’s face.</p><p>The… prince snarled, but remained limp. He couldn’t be comfortable being held by his armpits.</p><p>“He was cursed.”</p><p>Wu looked to the Water Tribe siblings, who gave him resigned nods.</p><p>He sighed.</p><p>“We’ll discuss this over tea,” he said.</p><p>The prince gave an affronted mrow.</p><p>His Highness could wait, thank you very much. <em>Fire</em> royalty would only get royal privilege from <em>Fire</em> citizens on <strong>this</strong> mountain. Anyone that accustomed to being catered to could do with a lesson in patience.</p><p>Wu took his time with the tea. Careful measurement of the leaves, four clicks of the spark rocks- summer, fall, winter, spring; Earth, Air, Water, Fire; North, East, South, West, wake the leaves, then brew. Pour the cups, elegantly, slowly.</p><p>The Water Tribe girl watched the tea ceremony. The Avatar watched the Water Tribe boy and the cat growl at each other.</p><p>Prince Zuko bolted the instant the Avatar released him to accept his teacup. The cat crouched under a shelf, tail lashing, and Wu suddenly wondered how much human intelligence remained behind that feline facade.</p><p>The Avatar fidgeted excessively, but let Wu finish his tea in silence.</p><p>Wu sat his cup down with a quiet chink, folded his hands in his lap, and asked:</p><p>“Now, why have you sought me?”</p><p>The Avatar recounted the story in gusts like autumn breezes, but slowly enough for Wu to catch this time.</p><p>
  <em>(He silently agreed with the Water Tribe boy, but he doubted the Avatar would accept the advice anymore gracefully from Wu than his companions.)</em>
</p><p>The title of Sage was sacred, a promise of beneficence and integrity. A call to conduct oneself with the highest moral standing, to bring justice wherever it was so need. Wu did the only thing he could in good conscience.</p><p>He looked the Avatar in the eyes and said:</p><p>“I’m sorry, but I have no ideas. I’m not familiar with that Spirit, nor this curse.”</p><p>The Avatar was 12. If he couldn’t see a gift from the Spirits, then surely a Sage’s duty was to at least ensure he didn’t <em>spurn</em> them.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. The Storm</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>It's been two months, but I can explain-</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>I write slow. See you in another two months.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Zuko hadn’t had a truly pleasant morning in a long, long time, but waking up to someone else’s nightmares was distinctly miserable. Especially when it resulted in nearly being sat on.</p><p>Zuko wanted to yell: <em>If you thought we were being attacked, why are you still half asleep you moron?!</em> Maybe: <em>Watch out I’m right here!</em> What happened: a shrill yowl and all his fur (what little of it there was) standing on end. Because, like every morning for the past few weeks, Zuko woke up and he was a cat.</p><p>Not an owlcat. Not a catopus. Not even a pygmy puma. A tiny, flightless, nonvenomous <em><strong>cat</strong></em>.</p><p>(<em>What do you mean, cat?</em> Sokka’s voice asked in his head. <em>You are an itty, bitty, <strong>kitten</strong>.</em>)</p><p>Zuko shivered as real Sokka settled back into his sleeping bag. Zuko was certain even his worst nightmares couldn’t have prepared him for this.</p><p>(<em>Maybe, Uncle’s voice suggested, if you actually slept enough you would have had a nightmare that did.</em>)</p><p>Zuko couldn’t dignify that with a response even in his own head. Spirits, he missed Uncle. Maybe even more than opposable thumbs. Possible treasonous sentiments and all.</p><p>The Avatar told them to go back to sleep. Which was ridiculous: he might not have his firebending anymore, but Zuko was certain dawn was less than two hours away. Going back to sleep now would just leave them more tired in the morning. Better to go ahead and get an early start.</p><p>(Uncle always told him to go back to sleep too, but Uncle didn’t have as much experience with nightmares as Zuko did.)</p><p>He DISAPPROVED of this flagrant waste of time, but his stupid cat body mewed in a way that could easily be misconstrued as confusion.</p><p>The Water Tribe Idiot just told him to “hush, Rhom-butt,” and pulled him into a, a… Hug.</p><p>He was being hugged like a stuffed toy. Zuko wanted to writhe and claw on principle, but his stupid cat brain LIKED hugs. And sleep. So much sleep. The cat brain wanted to snuggle and purr and sleep, and he was so tired.</p><p>Why wouldn’t these idiots shut up. The only thing more wasteful at this point than sleeping was talking: did they want to drag up MORE of the Avatar’s nightmares?</p><p>Of course- they were like Uncle. Couldn’t see the bubbling hurt that was IMPOSSIBLE to talk about. That only churned harder the more you exposed it.</p><p>Zuko hoped the Avatar didn’t see the Air Temples in his eyes. Didn’t hear them in the screams.</p><p>They weren’t his people, wouldn’t want his apologies or acknowledgement, but- Something had gone drastically wrong, and tiny bones that should not have been there haunted him as surely as his own failures.</p><p>Even if he could talk about it, he wouldn’t. The Avatar deserved that small courtesy. He just wished Katara and Sokka would get the hint.</p><p>---------------</p><p>The morning didn’t get any better the second time Zuko woke up. Between <em>no longer being a firebender</em> and <em>being a <strong>cat</strong></em>, Zuko was now always the last to wake. Which was disturbing on principle, but overshadowed by the fact people picked him up and moved him while he was sleeping.</p><p>He was on the Sky Bison, who at least hadn’t taken flight yet. Katara was… shaking out a bag and talking about markets.</p><p>Of course: they’d run out of food. It’d been giving him second hand anxiety for weeks. He’d already learned how to hunt- mostly just to show up the Water Tribe Idiot- but he couldn’t turn off the mental space dedicated to budget and inventory and maintenance even as a cat on a flying bison.</p><p>(His cat brain could shut up about providing for non-hunting nest mates. They were his captors, and the only reason he brought them kills was to prove even a 5 pound cat was a better hunter than Sokka. That’s it.)</p><p>“Guys, wait. This was in my dream,” the idiot in question said. “We shouldn’t go to the market.”</p><p>“What happened in your dream?” Katara asked with long suffering amusement.</p><p>“Food eats people!” Sokka said. “Also-” He pointed at the lemur and glared. “Momo could talk. You said some very unkind things.”</p><p>Zuko blinked at the Water Tribe Idiot. If it had sounded half as ridiculous coming from him, then no wonder Azula laughed at him for so long about his ‘food ate people’ dream.</p><p>But… neither Katara or Aang laughed at Sokka. They giggled, but in a way antithetical to Azula’s entire existence. More like Ty Lee, when Ty Lee was alone with Mai.</p><p>Zuko didn’t understand them. At all. And the more he saw of them, the less he understood.</p><p>Aang was the Avatar, and an even better prodigy than Azula, but he acted more like Ty Lee. But Ty Lee would have let Sokka drop him off the saddle. She would have cried, but she would have seen the tactical necessity.</p><p>And… and if the Fire Nation killed her family, she wouldn’t have even cried. It was a horrible mistake, and he wasn’t even alive then, but that didn’t matter. The Earth Kingdom and Water Tribes killed people equally innocent for far less than the massacres at the Air Temples. Even Fire Nation commanders overreacted when their people were hurt, even by accident. That’s just how people ARE.</p><p>But the Avatar caught him. Took him with them and tried to break the curse. Thought that they could be friends. It was like Aang blew away hate and anger and guilt on the nearest breeze, and none of it could touch him.</p><p>Katara was only slightly less baffling: she, at least, had a human temper. Her speech about only tolerating him for Aang's sake and ending him if he stepped out of line was as predictable as it was impressive. She was the backbone of the group, willing to do whatever it took to see them through. Including choking back her rage with a smile.</p><p>Despite that, Katara wasn’t ruthless. She was kind, always willing to help others as well as her own. Sometimes at the expense of her own.</p><p>She was also a waterbending prodigy, even if she hadn’t learned much waterbending.</p><p>(How had that even happened? There wouldn’t be any Waterbending Masters in her tiny Arctic camp, but someone should have taught her <em>something</em>. The Southern Raiders took the militant waterbenders, but where were the civilians? The South hadn’t become as backwards as the North, had it?)</p><p>This barely seemed to impact her relationship with Sokka. He scoffed at her ‘magic water,’ but he was skeptical of ALL bending for reasons unknown. He wasn’t resentful of her, of her of him over it.</p><p>She DID resent him for not washing his socks. That was BEYOND VALID: anyone whose feet smell that bad needed to wash their own socks. Zuko was profoundly grateful Agni had blessed the Fire Nation with low body odor and common sense, as just the one stinky idiot was trying enough.</p><p>Sokka shouldn’t be as hard to pin down as he was. He was a backwater idiot- who somehow had routine flashes of tactical brilliance. His work ethic was baffling: he would spend hours hunting and fishing but refused to cook or wash his damn socks. He was the last to rouse, but the first to offer to take night watches.</p><p>To be fair, he was the only one besides Zuko who thought that they needed a watch, and Zuko couldn’t voice his clearly superior expertise even if they did ask.</p><p>It was… bizarre interacting with Sokka. After the failed assassination by gravity, the Water Tribesman had insisted on personally watching their prisoner. Fair enough: Katara and Aang were exactly the sort to catch the Guard’s Madness. But for all his bluster, Zuko didn’t think Sokka was immune either.</p><p>He talked, and talked, and <em>talked</em> at Zuko from the beginning. There’d been surprisingly little vitriol from the start, and now their “conversations” were downright… friendly. Zuko was embarrassed to admit how good he felt when Sokka pretended that Zuko could reply. Like he was still a person. A person who’s <em>opinions mattered</em>, even.</p><p>And then Sokka would immediately turn around and act like Zuko was just a pet, but… in a good way? Like he was just a cat that needed his fur brushed, no reason to get embarrassed. Like sharing a bedroll was no different than sharing with Momo. Like it was no big deal to carry him or put him on his shoulder.</p><p>Zuko wasn’t sure what to make of them, but he knew that he needed to keep them safe. Make his father- and the rest of the Fire Nation- see that they were just kids. Kids that didn’t mean to hurt the Fire Nation. They were nice! Just caught up in… accidents and misinformation and escalation.</p><p>First, they needed to avoid capture. Then, get his voice back. Then… Then he’d… figure out what he’d done so wrong three years ago. And. Not do that. He’d convince his father this time. He HAD to.</p><p>————————</p><p>Iroh stared somewhere beyond the clear sky and tranquil sea. It’d been a good week, as weeks minus their young prince went, but Lt. Jee still hesitated. Had anyone told him last month that he’d wish for <em>Prince Zuko’s</em> influence on <em>Prince Iroh,</em> he’d have laughed in their face. That was before he found out Uncle Iroh existed almost solely for the Royal Pain’s benefit.</p><p>“There is a storm coming,” Iroh said. “A big one.”</p><p>Jee winced. And waited for clarification.</p><p>Iroh sighed. “It’s approaching from the North. We… should alter our course and head southwest.”</p><p>“Yes sir,” Jee said. And waited at attention, like he hadn’t thought to in approximately two and a half years.</p><p>“Inform the helmsman. Dismissed,” General Iroh said, still looking at the horizon and not at Jee.</p><p>Jee snapped a salute, and tried to pretend he hadn’t heard the hesitancy in his voice. He’d once thought that the princes had as much in common as owl-cats and lizard-dogs. But given a mission, the General was every bit as single minded as the younger prince.</p><p>Jee wished he could believe that General Iroh ordered the change because of safety reasons. But the infirmary was full of proof to the contrary. They were changing course to prevent damage to the mission, not the crew.</p><p>It was jarring, that his mortal enemy was once again command callousness instead of teenage foolhardiness. There was a difference. One Jee wouldn’t have thought mattered, but very much did.</p><p>——————-</p><p>Zuko stared at Katara, willing her to spontaneously develop telepathy. Thump. The melon. Don’t swish, thump.</p><p>Katara continued swishing the melon.</p><p>“I don't know if I like the sound of that swishing,” she said.</p><p>Zuko growled. The swishing was fine, but did it sound hollow when you thumped it? Melons didn’t exactly travel well to the poles, but surely the Air Nomad knew how to select a frost damned melon? Zuko stared at Aang instead. <em>Thump the melon. </em></p><p>“I think it's true, Katara. Swishing means it's ripe,” the Avatar said.</p><p>Zuko’s tail swished behind the Water Tribesman’s shoulder in impotent fury. Sokka gave him an awkward pat.</p><p>“Got some strong opinions about produce, then? Never pictured you as a fruits and vegetables kind of guy.”</p><p>Zuko gave him his best affronted glare. He’d known fresh produce was a luxury even as an unbanished prince. Eating nothing but dried fruit and jerky alone in his room was a frequent punishment- one that had fortunately prepared him for life outside the palace. What a shock that would have been, if he’d been accustomed to refusing all but his favorites like Azula. He wasn’t a useless hedonist, but he certainly appreciated quality!</p><p>“I just realized we're out of money anyway,” Katara said as she sat the maybe ripe melon back down.</p><p>Zuko responded with an ungodly yowl that would have been a harbor rattling scream in his human body. <em>How? <strong>Do you? Forget? <span class="u">You’re? Out of? Money? </span></strong></em></p><p>That… wasn’t just hi- Oh. He was right next to Sokka’s ear. Oops. Zuko sheathed his claws and let himself be flung off the shrieking Water Tribesman’s shoulder.</p><p>The shopkeeper picked up Sokka’s basket with an indigent “hmph!”</p><p>Sokka groaned, and fell down on his butt. He glared at Zuko, about as terrifyingly as Azula had when she was five.</p><p>“What was that for?” He demanded.</p><p>Sokka got up with a sigh, then scooped Zuko back up onto his shoulder. Not even roughly.</p><p>…He was probably used to not retaliating against people who yelled in his ear. Katara wasn’t exactly quiet, nor safe to retaliate against. Habits like that were difficult to break.</p><p>“Out of food and out of money. Now what are we supposed to do?” Sokka moaned.</p><p>Zuko (very softly!) batted Sokka’s cheek, then tilted his head at Aang. Avatar. Earth Kingdom town. While there was no guarantee that hostility to Fire Nation ships correlated with willingness to openly support the Avatar, it was worth a shot.</p><p>“You could get a job, smart guy,” Katara sniped.</p><p>Zuko sighed. Yeah- and be stuck here for at least a day. There weren’t any ships to unload here, nor any sign of the mending services his less handy crewmen used. There might be fishing boats returning in the evening, but… Zuko DID NOT WANT to be here in the evening. Something was making his ears pop and skin tingle, and he wanted to LEAVE.</p><p>“We shouldn’t go out there!” a woman shouted from behind them. “Please, the fish can wait. There’s going to be a terrible storm.”</p><p>“You’re crazy,” her companion snapped. “It’s a nice day: no clouds, no winds, no nothing.” He gestured impassionedly. “So quit your nagging, woman!”</p><p>Zuko growled. So that’s what had his fur bristling: he’d heard that animals knew the weather better than people. Though how anyone was supposed to ASK animals about the weather was beyond him. Too bad his feline instincts hadn’t come with a manual.</p><p>Aang gave them a nervous grin. “Maybe we should find some shelter?” he asked.</p><p>Sokka waved at the sky. “Are you kidding? Shelter from what?”</p><p>The woman started shouting again. “My joints say there’s going to be a storm! A bad one.”</p><p>“Well,” the man said, “It’s your joints against my brain.”</p><p>“Then I hope your brain can find someone else to haul that fish, ‘cause I ain’t comin.’”</p><p>“Then I’ll find a new fish hauler and pay him double what you get! How do you like that!”</p><p>Sokka started running. No, Zuko mrowed in his ear. No, bad idiot teenager. There were so many red flags about this operation. Starting with why this fisherman hadn’t gone out with the most favorable tide. Fishing was DANGEROUS at the best of times- go out with a careless or incapacitated crew and you might not come back at all.</p><p>The idiot raised his spirits damned hand, like they were having a conference. “I’ll go!”</p><p>“Ha!” the fisherman said. “You’re hired!”</p><p>Katara and Aang stared at him like the idiot he was.</p><p>“What?” The idiot asked. “You said get a job… and he’s paying double.”</p><p>The man whirled around with murder in his eyes. “Double?! Who told you that nonsense?”</p><p>Zuko couldn’t help it: he started anxiety purring, flexing his claws in and out as if they could catch a better plane of existence.</p><p>“Hey,” Sokka said as he pulled him off of his shoulder. “I know the mere thought of manual labor gives your princely self the vapors, but this is ridiculous.”</p><p>----------------</p><p>Used to, General Iroh ate wherever he could best cajole his nephew into doing the same. It was almost cute, as far as command neurosises went, how Prince Zuko became so hyper focused on absolutely everything that he forgot about food. Up until he became hyper focused on YOU, of course.</p><p>Now, General Iroh could only be found in one of two places: his quarters…</p><p>Which Ensign Kuzon found empty.</p><p>....Or his nephew’s.</p><p>Kuzon took the liberty of gently banging his head against the bulkhead of the abandoned corridor. There would definitely be crying. Probably a trinket or two demolished when he returned to his own quarters. Possibly the judgement of a thousand suns looming over the crew until they all passed out in sheer terror.</p><p>Well, until Kuzon and the other ensigns passed out in terror. The saltier seadogs just looked increasingly mutinous. There were limited ways people ended up on this ship, and chronic disrespect had the best long term survivorship ratio.</p><p>Kuzon cursed his Spirits damned gullibility and mahjong one last time. He was a dim-wit and a coward, true, but he kept his word. No matter how ill considered. Agni preserve idiots and children- Kuzon would walk up to the dragon's maw as he said he would.</p><p>General Iroh was ugly crying over a portrait, a bottle of rice wine half drunk in the middle of the day. The portrait, Kuzon realized with dread, wasn’t of Prince Zuko. There was a definite semblance, but the painting was an unscarred man, not a teenager.</p><p>“All of this was my fault,” General Iroh said. “My two biggest mistakes, one leading to the other.”</p><p>Kuzon sat the tray down, and tripped face first into the most common manifestation of his stupidity: talking to his superior officers.</p><p>“Begging your pardon, sir, but nobody can watch a person every moment of the day.”</p><p>“Not every moment. Just an hour- one hour- in contested territory, and I failed at even that, when it’s my fault he was there to begin with.”</p><p>Kuzon should have left: General Iroh would not be happy with him once he sobered. But Kuzon never did what he ought to, and he didn’t miraculously start then.</p><p>————————-</p><p>Kuzon’s chronic inability to keep his mouth shut didn’t end with superior officers. The entire ship knew about the Agni Kai within the hour. ………………</p><p>“Sokka,” Aang said. “Maybe this isn’t such a good idea: look at the sky.”</p><p>Zuko refused to look at the idiot in question. He’d gone so far as to let AANG carry him- mere kitten-puppy eyes at the edge of his vision weren’t going to sway him.</p><p>“I said I was going to do this job. I can’t back out just because of some bad weather.” Sokka said, like he was a damn Captain about to go down with his ship.</p><p>(Entire crews could go down in storms. Sokka didn’t even have water or airbending to help him.)</p><p>“The boy with the tattoos has some sense. You should listen to him,” the fisherwoman spat.</p><p>“Boy with tattoos?” the fisherman sniffed, then turned to actually look at Aang for the first time. “Airbender tattoos. Well, I’ll be a hog monkey’s uncle. You’re the Avatar, aint’t ya?”</p><p>“That’s right,” Katara said.</p><p>She and Aang smiled like the tone deaf children they were. They could probably take the man and the woman if necessary (he didn’t see any other crew- a BAD sign for a fishing boat,) but better to preemptively run to the next village than get run OUT of this one.</p><p>“Well, don’t be so smiley about it!” the fisherman spat. “The Avatar disappeared for a hundred years! You turned your back on the world!”</p><p>Zuko growled, and tried to lunge from Aang’s arms. He’d spent nearly three years hunting an Avatar who turned out to be a 12 year old Air Nomad. Get a clue! Aang couldn’t have turned his back on anyone in the past 100 years because. he. wasn’t. here! <em>Zuko had looked! For two and a half years! </em></p><p>“Don’t yell at him!” Katara screamed. “Aang would never turn his back on anyone!”</p><p>“Oh, he wouldn’t, huh?” the fisherman sneered. “Then I guess I just have imagined the last hundred years of war and suffering.”</p><p>Aang’s grip finally loosened, and Zuko sprung off his bony chest like a meteor of righteous fury. How DARE he blame Aang for… for all THIS?!</p><p>The old man fell down with a shriek. Sokka grabbed Zuko, and he desisted his worthy assault for… reasons. Which did NOT include concern for Sokka’s scratchable skin.</p><p>“Please don’t maim my employer,” Sokka begged.</p><p>Zuko hissed. His claws were sharp, but tiny: he’d barely managed to assault the man’s shirt. Yet.</p><p>“Aang!” Katara called.</p><p>Aang was… flying away. Smart, Zuko thought. Retreat while the old man was distracted, forcing Katara and Sokka to follow.</p><p>“That’s right! Keep flying.” The fisherman screamed.</p><p>Katara glared- the same glare that she’d given Zuko all those weeks ago.</p><p>“You’re a horrible old man!”</p><p>Then she yip yiped away. Without him or Sokka.</p><p>“Hey!” Sokka yelled. “What about Zuko?”</p><p>“Yeah!” the horrible old man said. “What about the tiny demon? He ain’t comin' on my boat!”</p><p>Katara had Appa lean down, and Sokka threw Zuko onto the saddle. And they flew away. Leaving Sokka with a possibly senile and/or vindictive old man. To go fishing. Alone. These… these… IDIOTS!</p><p>That was a yowl of frustration, not worry.</p><p>-------------------------</p><p>Zuko swore never to take firebending for granted again. His teeth chattered with cold, his soaked fur clung EVERYWHERE, and he couldn’t even DO anything about it after they found shelter. If they found shelter.</p><p>Katara was hellbent on finding Aang in this Koh blasted storm. Which he could understand: she’d left Sokka to go find him. How awful would it be if she didn’t find Aang either? But Zuko would have appreciated being left off this perilous quest.</p><p>...Could he even BE left out of this perilous quest? If Sokka, Katara, and/or Aang died in the storm, where would that leave him?</p><p>No. Bad thought. He’d been not thinking about how the only people who knew what had happened to him were complete, mosey-right-up-to-danger morons for weeks, and he wouldn't think about it now, either. Thinking about not having a funeral urn was a good way to make it relevant.</p><p>Zuko not thought about it so well, it shocked him when they suddenly stopped flying through the storm. He remembered that losing track of time and your surroundings in the cold was BAD, but he couldn’t do anything about it. Without his bending or even hands, all he could do was shiver.</p><p>Just as suddenly-but-probably-not-actually, he was in front of a fire. Which was good. But Aang was talking. Which was bad. Not that Aang was talking, it was usually bad when Aang STOPPED talking, but his tone was very, very bad.</p><p>Zuko’s cat body noticed things like tone far faster and more viscerally than his human body ever had. Words took longer. Figuring out what Aang was talking about took even longer when he was dropped into the middle of the story. But he did. And immediately wished he hadn’t.</p><p>This wasn’t his place. Wasn’t his place at all.</p><p>——————</p><p>“What are we gonna do?”</p><p>“About what?”</p><p>“About Prince Zuko’s banishment and Agni Kai!”</p><p>Jee stared. Took a slow sip of watery rum. He knew this crew was stupid, there was no way he COULDN”T know. He didn't need this heavy handed reminder, though.</p><p>“Like what?” He asked. “Challenge the Fire Lord to an Agni Kai? Plan a revolt? Ask the damn googly eyed rock Spirit to throw some stones at the generals?”</p><p>Another slow sip.</p><p>“Leave royal business alone,” he said. “Ain’t nought good come out of meddling. And most of the bad will fall squarely on you.”</p><p>“...It ain’t right,”</p><p>Jee shrugged. “Never said it was.”</p><p>—————</p><p>“Help! Oh, please help!”</p><p>The fisherwoman from earlier stumbled into the cave. Which made absolutely no sense: how could she have found them and why would she want to in the first place?</p><p>“It’s okay. You’re safe,” Katara soothed.</p><p>“But my husband isn’t!” the fisherwoman wailed.</p><p>Zuko’s heart tried to beat out of his chest. No: Sokka!</p><p>“What do you mean? Where’s Sokka?” Katara asked.</p><p>“They haven’t returned! They should have been back by now! And this storm is becoming a typhoon! They’re caught out at sea!”</p><p>“I’m going to find him!” Aang said.</p><p>“I’m going with you!” Katara said.</p><p>“I’m staying right here,” the fisherwoman said.</p><p>“Zuko, Momo, stay here. We’ll be back soon. I promise,” Aang said.</p><p>------</p><p>Zuko knew awkwardness and terror could, in fact, easily coexist. But nothing could have prepared him for thirty minutes alone with a fisherwoman who didn’t know he was intelligent but DID know rather much about catowl and catopus breeding.</p><p>Momo BETTER not mention this to anyone, ever, in a dream or otherwise.</p><p>--------------</p><p>Momo heard Appa a single moment before Zuko did, rushing past him just as Zuko registered a relieved lowing. Zuko peered out- Aang, Katara, and Sokka (and the fisherman) stood at the mouth of the cave, hale and whole.</p><p>Zuko surged forward with what had to be the most embarrassing noise he’d ever made in his life. This nicely complemented the ridiculous circles he twined around everyone’s ankles.</p><p>Sokka scooped him up. “I’m so sorry! I will never doubt your feline instincts again!” he cried.</p><p>Excuse you! It was Zuko’s very human experience, thank you very much- but Zuko couldn’t stop purring long enough to protest.</p><p>“OH, you’re alive!” The fisherwoman exclaimed. Then: “You owe this boy an apology!”</p><p>“He doesn’t have to apologize,” Aang reassured them.</p><p>“What if,” the man said, “instead of an apology I give him a free fish and we call it even?”</p><p>Zuko hissed from Sokka’s arms. Ungrateful old man! Air Nomads were vegetarian! And he HAD to say he didn’t need an apology so not to taint a true expression of the heart with expectations or coercion!</p><p>Aang grinned uncomfortably. “Actually, I don’t eat meat.”</p><p>“Fish ain’t meat!” the fisherman sputtered.</p><p>(It wasn’t, in the Earth Kingdom or Fire Nation. But Aang clearly wasn’t Earth Kingdom or Fire Nation, now was he?)</p><p>Sokka leaned over. “Seriously, you’re still going to pay me, right?”</p><p>The fisherman held up a fish. Sokka sighed, but didn’t press the issue.</p><p>Zuko growled, teeth bared and claws extended.</p><p>The fisherman stepped back with a scowl. “What’s the Avatar doin’ with such a hateful creature, anyway?”</p><p>Sokka hugged him closer. “Hey! Zuko doesn’t have a hateful bone in his body. Angry, yes. Spiteful, yes. But I’ll have you know that he’s <em>a good kitty</em>.”</p><p>Oh Spirits, Sokka must have hit his head. Hard. Impressive how well he’d kept his balance. Or maybe Zuko just wasn’t as attentive as Uncle, who seemed to have a sixth sense for when Zuko felt the least bit unsteady.</p><p>Zuko squirmed free and darted over to Katara.</p><p>“Mrow!”</p><p>Katara snapped to attention. “Oh no,” she said. “What now?”</p><p>Zuko dashed back to Sokka, who was watching in utter befuddlement. Sat down and headbutted his stupidly thick leggings.</p><p>“Sokka, are you okay?” Katara asked.</p><p>“I’m fine,” Sokka said.</p><p>Zuko mrowed again, and contorted uncomfortably to tap his own head.</p><p>Sokka sputtered. “Hey! A guy’s allowed to be gushy and emotional after his near death experience!”</p><p>Katara laughed, and scrunched her fingers through Sokka’s hair. Sokka swatted her away. Without wincing.</p><p>“Nope! Nothing gets through this hard head,” she teased.</p><p>“Who’d ever thought Zuko had such a sense of humor?” Aang said.</p><p>Everyone laughed. Zuko sighed. No sense. These people made no sense.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Credit to MuffinLance for the Googly Eyed Rock Spirit.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
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